Page 72 of Murder in Blackfriars

Daniel, his face lined with exhaustion but his step as energetic as usual, strode into the drawing room, unsurprised to see us here.

I sprang from my seat, abandoning all dignity, ran at him, and flung my arms around him. Daniel caught me, he solid and warm, and held me tightly, his lips in my hair.

I expected Daniel to soon untangle himself and face Mr. Grimes and Mr. Fielding, but he gathered me to him as though he never wanted to let me go. I laid my head on his shoulder and didn’t argue.

Mr. Fielding cleared his throat. “I’d discreetly fade into the distance, but I’d truly like to know what the devil you were doing in Naismith’s house, and why he let you go.”

I was the one who gently pushed Daniel’s hands from my waist and stepped back from him.

“I will make us some tea,” I told the three men. “But only if you don’t say aworduntil I return.”

Daniel grinned at me, a sight so welcome my heart grew light. Almost giddily I hastened down the back stairs and into the kitchen, hoping the cook here kept things organized enough that I could find things quickly.

The kitchen turned out to be a pleasant room, very tidy and clean. I approved.

I found the box of tea, not a bad blend, and soon had a pot brewing. I found biscuits in the larder that weren’t too stale and put them on a tray with the rest of the tea things. Not liking to simply abscond with the foodstuffs, I left a threepenny bit on the table near the box of tea.

The house had a dumbwaiter, which saved me the trouble of lugging the things up the stairs. I cranked the lift upward, then returned to the main floor and retrieved the tray from the well-appointed dining room.

I reflected that if I happened to need another post as cook, working in this house would be a treat. One never knew if one’s employer and the other staff wouldn’t be difficult, but the house itself was well-appointed and modern.

From the impatient expression on Mr. Fielding’s face, I concluded Daniel had done what I asked and kept mum until myreturn. Mr. Grimes sprang from his post beside the door, relieved me of my burden, and carried the tray to the tea table in front of the sofa.

“Thank you, Mr. Grimes,” I said graciously.

“Anytime, Mrs. Holloway. Are those biscuits there? Don’t mind if I do. Haven’t had a bite since Errol roused me out of bed last night.”

“Yes, yes.” Mr. Fielding scowled at Mr. Grimes and flapped his hands at the rest of us. “Sit down, sit down. I’ll be mother, shall I? While Daniel tells me what the devil is going on.”

I had to smile at Mr. Fielding’s use of the term, which simply meant he’d pour out the tea for us all.

“Did he abduct you?” I asked Daniel as I settled on the sofa again. “Or did you go willingly? I couldn’t decide, and this has driven me distracted.”

“A bit of both.” Daniel, who’d sunk down next to me, accepted a cup of tea from Mr. Fielding after I had mine in hand. “I thought over what he’d told you, Kat, and hadn’t made up my mind whether to approach him, recruit some bullies of my own and charge in, or ignore his summons altogether. To add to that, I was still trying to locate his lair, which has moved since I last had a bead on him.”

“He does that.” Mr. Fielding finished serving and sat down. “Moves about. Keeps the eye of the law away, as well as those looking to take vengeance on him.”

Daniel nodded. “I’d gone back to Bethnal Green to have a good snoop around, when a carriage pulls up, and Naismith’s toughs inform me I need to come with them. I decided I wanted to know what Naismith had to say, and allowed them to bundle me inside. It brought me to that house over there, which you are so closely surveying.”

He gestured out the front window with his teacup.

“He let you go?” I asked when Daniel paused to devour a biscuit. Mr. Grimes had already eaten four.

“We came to an agreement,” Daniel said. “As my intentions and his matched, for the most part, it was not difficult. He wants me to stop the smugglers operating out of Blackfriars, and so do I, though I admit for vastly different reasons.”

“He doesn’t want the competition,” Mr. Fielding said in disgust. “Bastard.”

He did not apologize to me for his language, and I did not expect him to, because I agreed.

“How did you know we was here, Danny?” Mr. Grimes broke in. “Could have knocked me down with a feather when you waltzed in. How’d you twig us?”

I’d been wondering the same thing, torn between that question and wanting to know what had happened inside Mr. Naismith’s house.

“You were obvious—to me, at least. Naismith chose an abode with many windows. I saw out of one of them the gentleman of this house suddenly emerge with a valise, step into his coach, and drive away. After that, the stairs from the cellar disgorged all the servants, who also scattered. I concluded that the house had been cleared of its residents, very likely so someone could use it to observe Naismith’s. I never saw you or Grimes go inside, Errol, so well done on that, but I concluded it was probably you. You’ve always been good at swindling people out of their homes to use for your own purpose. However, I did seeyou, Kat, when Errol’s lad led you in.”

“I thought I’d been surreptitious,” I said ruefully. “That is the correct word, is it not? Surreptitious? Did Mr. Naismith notice all this with you?”

“No.” Daniel took another sip of tea. “When I deduced that Errol had moved in to keep watch, I made certain to block theview out of any window we were near. Naismith’s ruffians had their eyes onme, and Naismith did too, so they didn’t bother with what was going on in the street. This is a quiet neighborhood, very little trouble here, which has made his guards a bit negligent, in my opinion.”